CORRELATES OF MENTAL HEALTH TRAITS AND EXPOSURE TO SOCIAL MEDIA COMEDY SKITS AMONG NIGERIAN NETIZENS

Mental health has gained increased global attention as a subject of concern in recent years. This research is focusing on traits that lead to emotional enhancement. Comedy is a genre of dramatic art that explores humour to initiate laughter amongst the audience, especially the short skits. There are studies that have established that there exists a relationship between mental health and comedy skit. With the rapid progression of social media, comedy skits have provided a supplementary or alternative means of therapy or means of fulfilling entertainment gratification among the audience. This study investigated mental health traits of Nigerian Netizens who are exposed to social media comedy skits. The study was anchored on Media System Dependency theory. The study adopted descriptive survey research design and a sample of 380 respondents bases on simple random sampling technique across digital media platforms. The study employed a self-designed structured questionnaire administered through Google form for data gathering. The data were coded and analysed using statistical package for social science (SPSS) with descriptive inferential statistics. The study revealed that Netizens were minimally exposed to social media comedy skits with the weighted mean score of 2.77 and standard deviation of 1.11, including a strong positive emotional stability, 347 (91.3%), resilience 294(77.4%), self-esteem, 223 respondents (58.7%), and environmental engagement 356(93.7%) among viewers with (Mean=3.22; SD=0.48). The study recommends that Netizens especially both youth, elderly, clergies and other religious leaders should consider comedy skits as alternative means of relaxation and therapy as it will positively enhance individuals’ mental health.